The Regnum Christi Movement offers its members some guidelines of a gospel-based spirituality as an ideal of Christian life. The spiritual path that Regnum Christi members walk mainly consists in knowing, loving, imitating, and proclaiming Christ. This is the path and these are the goals.

Below, we offer some resources that can help nurture the spiritual life of Movement members and of any Christian.

Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to
Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few
people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through
the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will
attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked
the door, then will you stand outside knocking and
saying, ´Lord, open the door for us.´ He will
say to you in reply, ´I do not know where
you are from.´ And you will say, ´We ate
and drank in your company and you taught in our
streets.´ Then he will say to you, ´I do
not know where you are from. Depart from me, all
you evildoers!´ And there will be wailing and grinding
of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and
you yourselves cast out. And people will come from
the east and the west and from the north and
the south and will recline at table in the
kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who
will be first, and some are first who will be
last."

Introductory Prayer:Lord, I believe in you with
a faith that never seeks to test you. I trust
in you, hoping to learn to accept and follow
your will, even when it does not make sense
to the way that I see things. May my love
for you and those around me be similar to
the love you have shown to me.

Petition:Lord,
grant me the humility and sincerity to enter by the
narrow gate.

1. A Scary Question: This is a scary
question: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Jesus
doesn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he gives some
advice. It almost looks like Jesus is avoiding the
question, as if the answer is too discouraging. He
tries to be encouraging instead, but at the same time
underlines the difficulty of success. “Strive” he says, “to
enter by the narrow gate.” Strive is the key
word, since apparently, many are going to try to enter
and fail, because the gate is so narrow.

2. A
Disturbing Reply: The words that many will try to
enter and fail are troubling. What percentage? How many?
Nowadays, we like exact statistics. Jesus doesn’t say, but we
get the impression that it will be more than
a few. The possibility of failure is very real.
Who will fail? Probably, people who don’t take him seriously;
people who don’t try hard enough; people who love
something more than they love Jesus. In other word,
lots of people will fail…

3. My Christian Credentials May
Not Be as Solid as I Think They Are: He
goes on to say that many who think they
are doing enough are going to be surprised to find
they didn’t do enough. They think their Christian credentials
are solid, but they will be found wanting. They
will tell Jesus that they ate and drank with him,
that they received communion every Sunday. They will witness
to how many times they heard him preach in
their streets, how much they contributed to the collection,
but that will not be enough. Yet others who did
not seem so good in life will be entering
the Kingdom before them. Which group will I be in?
Jesus is warning me that just because I feel
I am doing enough for him doesn’t mean I
am going to be in the group to be saved.
I need to follow him with as much sincerity
and honesty as I am capable of, doing his will
and not my own.

Conversation with Christ: Dear Jesus,
your words are troubling to me. I see how often
I fail in what I know I should be
doing for you. I see that I cannot reliably guide
myself in this matter. Send your Holy Spirit to
help me open my eyes to see if I am
falling short before it is too late. Help me
to enter by the narrow gate.

Resolution: Today
I will examine my conscience very honestly to see
if I am saying ‘no’ to Jesus in any
aspect of my life and to see if I am
letting myself get too comfortable in any aspect of
my life, since comfort, especially in the spiritual life, is
a sign that I am not “striving to enter
by the narrow gate.”

The daily meditation is a service of Regnum Christi that offers people a Gospel reflection through e-mail. You can view the weekly meditation on this link or listen the podcast version here.